زَالَ remove in Arabic
زَالَ is how you say “remove” in Arabic.
Root ز و ل z-w-l. verb (form I, intransitive). zāla.
Arabic
English
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Meaning of remove in Arabic
- to depart, go away, remove (from a place) said of a thing itself leaving its place, e.g. زال الشيء عن مكانه — 'the thing departed, or removed itself, from its place'
- to cease to exist, pass away, come to nought e.g. الدُّنْيَا وَشِيكَةُ الزَّوَالِ — 'worldly life is quick to pass away'
- (of the sun) to decline from the meridian; (of daylight or shade) to advance, grow high figurative extension of the basic sense
- to move, stir, be in motion or commotion said of a body or figure seen moving
Example sentence
فصل إيّاك والمعاصي فإنها أزالت عزّ اسجدوا، وأخرجت إقطاع اسكن يا آدم
Beware of sins, for they removed the honor of 'bow down,' and expelled the estate of 'dwell, O Adam.'
أَزَالَتْ they removed
Past-tense verb 'removed, took away'; the '-at' ending marks a feminine 'they' subject (the sins).
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
Classical register; often appears in the negative-continuous construction مَا زَالَ ('it has not ceased to...', i.e. 'it is still...'). Also used technically of the sun declining from the meridian (زَوَالُ الشَّمْسِ) and, famously, of worldly things passing away, as in الدُّنْيَا وَشِيكَةُ الزَّوَالِ ('the world is quick to pass away').
Words from the same root
- أَزَالَهُ to remove it, cause it to depart (causative, form IV)
- زَوَالٌ passing away, decline, cessation
- زَائِلٌ passing away, transient (active participle)
- زَاوَلَهُ to strive with, labor to obtain, contend with (form III)
More example sentences
ما زال يكتب بدم الندم سطور الحزن في القصص،
He never stopped writing with the blood of regret the lines of sadness in the stories.
مَا زَالَ he has not ceased
ma = 'not'; zala = 'ceased' — together 'has not ceased, kept on', a way to say a continuing action.
فَلَا تزَال الشَّجَرَة تؤتي أكلهَا كل حِين بإذن الله رَبِّهَا
The tree continues to yield its fruit at all times by the permission of its Lord.
تَزَالُ does not cease
Present-tense verb 'cease', 'it' form; with the preceding 'la' it means 'does not cease, keeps on'.
وَلَوْ زَالَ رَيْنُ الْهَوَى عَنْ بَصَرِ بَصِيرَتِهِ لَرَأَى أَنَّهُ قَدْ شَقِيَ مِنْ حَيْثُ قَدَّرَ السَّعَادَةَ وَاغْتَمَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ ظَنَّ الْفَرَحَ وَأَلِمَ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَرَادَ اللَّذَّةَ
If the veil of desire were lifted from the eyes of his insight, he would see that he is miserable where he thought he was happy, grieved where he thought he was joyous, and in pain where he sought pleasure.
زَالَ he removed
Past-tense verb, here intransitive 'it vanished, lifted'; subject ('it', the veil) built in. Despite the English 'removed', the action is the film coming off on its own.
فالأصل الصالح لا يزول بزلةٍ ما دام قائمًا
for a righteous origin does not vanish with a single misstep as long as it stands.
يَزُولُ it vanishes
Present 'vanishes, ceases', subject 'it' inside.
فَزَالَ القلق وطاب عَيْش الماكث
So anxiety vanished, and the resident's life became pleasant.
فَزَالَ so vanished
A 'hollow' verb, its middle root-letter surfacing as a long vowel that collapses in this form. It means an outright ceasing, the anxiety simply ended, with its subject arriving after it.
وإذا أتمَّ فريضةً بالتيمم، ثم زالَ عذرُه قبل أن يشرعَ في نافلةٍ،
If one completes an obligatory prayer with dry ablution, and the excuse is lifted before beginning a non-obligatory prayer,
زَالَ is lifted
'went away / lapsed,' an intransitive past verb — the excuse vanishes of itself. Its subject, 'his excuse,' follows. The removal of the excuse (e.g. water now found) changes things, as the next sentence rules.
فإذا تذكر الإنسان مبدأ أمره ومنتهاه، زال عنه العجب والغرور،
Thus, when a person remembers his origin and end, his vanity and arrogance disappear,
زَالَ disappear
A past-tense verb carrying its own subject, here the result of the condition: his self-conceit departs. It opens the answer-half of the 'when ... then' frame.
وَلَا يَزَالُ الرَّجُلُ يَصْدُقُ وَيَتَحَرَّى الصِّدْقَ حَتَّى يُكْتَبَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ صَدِيقًا
And a man continues to tell the truth and to seek truthfulness until he is recorded with God as a truthful person.
يَزَالُ he continues to
A verb meaning 'ceases', which when negated flips to mean 'keeps on / continues'. Arabic expresses ongoing persistence through this 'does not cease' frame, so the negation plus this verb yields 'he continues to', not a simple stop.
وَمَا زَالَ يَلْعَبُ بِالْعُقُولِ
And he continued to toy with people's minds.
زَالَ continued to
A past-tense verb that, paired with the negative-shaped particle before it, means 'kept on / never ceased'. This is a fixed Arabic frame where a 'ceasing' verb negated flips into 'continuously did', so the action is ongoing, not stopped.
وَتَضَيَّقَ سَبِيلًا مَا زَالَ مُتَّسِعًا فَفَرَّقَ الأَكْثَرُونَ دِينَهُمْ وَكَانُوا شِيعًا
And a path that had remained wide became narrow, so the majority divided their religion and became sects.
زَالَ had remained
A past-tense verb that, paired with the connector before it, forms a 'had remained / kept on being' frame. This 'never ceased' construction stretches the state of the path over time before it changed.
فَمَا زَالَ يَقُولُ اِشْرَبْ
He kept saying, "Drink."
زَالَ kept on
Zaala is one of a small family of verbs that, when paired with the preceding negative-shaped particle, flips into meaning 'continued to' or 'kept on' rather than 'ceased'. It is a past-tense form, but here it sets up an ongoing background action: the saying did not stop. It needs the verb after it to complete the thought, working almost like an auxiliary that frames duration.
قُلْتُ وَمَا زَالَ الْعُلَمَاءُ وَالْفُضَلَاءُ يَعْجَبُهُمْ الْمِلْحُ،
I said: The scholars and the men of distinction have always liked wit.
زَالَ has continued
This verb, literally 'ceased', teams up with the negation before it to flip into 'has not stopped, keeps on'. The two together form a set 'continues to' construction, so the negative plus this verb expresses lasting habit, not a completed past act.
Common questions
- How do you say "remove" in Arabic?
- زَالَ (zāla) — though classically it means to depart or go away from a place (said of the thing itself), not to actively take something away; that causative sense ('to remove, take away') is expressed by the related form أَزَالَ (azāla).
- What does زَوَالٌ (zawāl) mean?
- زَوَالٌ is the verbal noun of زَالَ, meaning 'passing away, declining, ceasing to exist' — used of the sun declining from the meridian or of worldly things passing away.
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).